


No Regrets

by psychoroach



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 13:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18801154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychoroach/pseuds/psychoroach
Summary: When one of their own is suffering from Hanahaki Disease, how do they react?





	No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Ok admittedly this was far less of a fairytale when I started out writing it, but I think it turned out pretty well. I'm happy with it anyway.
> 
> Read, review, kudos.

Danny got out of the passenger side of the camaro, following Steve over to the coroner's office. They were mid conversation, as always, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to what was going on around them. It was a common occurrence between the two of them, as they seemed to focus on each other, egged on by each other's energies when they were close by enough to feed off each other. It was equally frustrating and amusing for people around them.

"Look, all I'm saying is you could use to blow off some steam." Danny pointed out. "What do you do, you go on the job, you go home and hang out with me. I know we have our thing going on, but seriously, babe, I won't get offended if you need time away from me. Go...go to a bar, go out to a strip club, get a nice lap dance."

Steve snorted and flashed him a look. "Go to a strip club? When's the last time you went to a strip club?"

"Uh, before I got with Rachael actually." Danny admitted.

"No thanks." Steve cracked. "I don't get jollies from a dead eyed girl grinding all over me, hoping I'll tip her enough that she can put it aside for college."

Danny huffed out a laugh. "Ok, fair enough."

They walked into the coroner's office, seeing Noelani bent over a small trash can, coughing violently. Danny frowned and looked over at Steve, who approached her, putting a hand on her upper back.

"Noelani, hey, are you ok?" He asked, concerned.

She got herself under control and moved away from him, hiding the trash can under the desk she was at before he could see anything.

"Yes, Commander, I'm fine." She grabbed a bottle of water and took a few pulls from it. "I assume you're here about my findings on Sumner."

"Do you have them yet?" Danny asked, giving her an out.

"I do." Noelani rolled her seat over and grabbed a manila folder, opening it. She read off all the information she'd taken, being sure to stop and explain things that wouldn't be clear to the two men. Once she finished, she handed the folder over to Steve and took a few more sips of her water. "If that's all..."

"Thank you, Noelani, I do appreciate this. Really." Steve squeezed her shoulder, smiling down at her.

Noelani coughed into her hand and waved the other at him.

"Don't mention it." She mumbled.

He frowned at her. "You know if you're sick like that, you really should go home."

"Can't, too much important stuff to do." She said.

Danny knew a dismissal when he heard one, so he clapped Steve on the back.

"Come on, we'll take that back to the office and then go to Kamekona's." He said. "I'll buy, as always."

"What? What do you mean always?" Steve scoffed. "What if I buy? What then?"

"Well then, babe, we got a bigger problem on our hands." Danny said, following him out of the office. "Because I'm pretty sure for that to happen Hell will need to freeze over."

"You know what, wise guy..." Steve's voice cut off as the door shut behind them.

Noelani rolled her seat over and grabbed the trashcan, looking down at it. Inside were two different flower petals: peony and common blue violet. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

"Damn it." She muttered. "What am I going to do?"

Danny Williams looked back behind him when he heard movement from Steve's house. He was splayed out in one of the Adirondack chairs there, a towel under his bare ass, completely naked. Steve had wrangled him into the water not too long before and it had turned into ocean sex, which was a first for Danny. He would never admit it, but it wasn't as terrible as he always figured it would be. He saw Steve walking back out, holding two longboards in his hands, as naked as Danny was.

He laughed quietly. "You know, I'm glad you convinced Mary to take Eddie for the night." He said. "Sex with a dog around is...uh...let's just say noses get buried places, it's not fun in the moment."

Steve huffed, amused, sitting down in the other Adirondack chair, handing one of the longboards to Danny. "Yeah well, that's what Navy men do, plan for every contingency. But I hope you know I promised to take him to the dog park tomorrow, and I'm dragging you with me."

Danny looked at him incredulously. "Me? You're dragging me off to a dog park? Because you promised a dog that you'd take him?"

"Hey, Eddie's smart." Steve pointed at him with his beer. "He knows, ok? If I don't take him to the dog park tomorrow, he's going to guilt trip my ass in every way possible and never let me forget it."

"You're crazy." Danny hid his smile, taking a sip of his beer, looking out over the ocean.

"You say that, but I swear, that dog knows things. He's...it's crazy how smart he is." Steve replied. "All you have to do is observe him for a day."

"I'll take your word for it." Danny snorted. He pushed himself up and turned to go toward where his clothes were sitting out drying.

"Where are you going?" Steve frowned.

"Just inside, babe." Danny chuckled. "I'm going to throw my shit in your washing machine. There's nothing worse than letting salt water set into clothes."

"Just give 'em a tumble dry, they'll be ok." Steve got up to follow him, watching Danny's ass as he walked.

"No, then they'll smell like salt water." He called behind him. "And before you even say it, yes, I know that's probably what you do, and that's why you always smell like salt water."

"Ok fair." He said. "Uh hey, while your clothes are washing, can I interest..."

"You could totally." Danny confirmed. "But this time I get your ass."

"I'm ok with that." Steve said, a grin lighting up his face.

Noelani sat in her doctor's office, frowning as she looked at her doctor, who was scribbling down things in a file. It had been almost a month since she'd last seen Steve and Danny, and her Hanahaki hadn't gotten any better, in fact it had gotten worse. "So there's two more. It started with the peonies and the common blue violet, now there's these two..." She held up a small baggie which had two more flower petals in it.

The doctor took it and looked it over. "Snapdragon and valerian. Not too common. Do you know who they might be?"

"No. I know who the peony and violet are." Noelani sighed, fiddling with her glasses. "This Hanahaki thing is really a bummer, you know."

"You could tell them." The doctor pointed out.

"They're way out of my league." Noelani ducked her head. "Besides, I don't know who these two new ones are. How complicated is this? Four people. I don't understand why fate has damned four people who have to put up with me."

"Don't think of it like that." She reached out and put a hand on Noelani's arm. "Think of it as you're very lucky to need four people in your life to love you."

Noelani laughed bitterly, standing up and gathering her things. "They don't love me, Dr. Ross, but thank you anyway." She turned and walked out of the office without another word, grabbing a pamphlet on the surgery to remove the disease on her way out.

"You know, we spend a lot of time here." Danny said as he and Steve got out at the coroner's office.

"Yeah, but so what?" He asked. "At least this time we're not here on official business."

"Yeah for once." Danny quipped as they walked into the office. He frowned when he saw Noelani, yet again, bent over throwing up into the trash can. "Noelani, babe, are you still sick?"

"Don't call me babe." She managed to get out. "And no, I'm fine."

"You're fine." Steve said incredulously. "You're fine. Really? I wasn't aware that fine people puked so much." He reached over and grabbed the trashcan from her.

"Hey!" Noelani tried to snatch it back from him.

"Calm down, I'm going to clean it out for you." Steve held the trashcan up. "You're lucky I'm not dragging you to the ER, even though I'm tempted to do that anyway..."

"Uh, no need." Danny held a hand up. "I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong." He looked at Noelani. "So, uh, who is it?"

"What are you talking about?" Steve frowned.

Danny grabbed the trashcan from him and held it up so Steve could look in it. "See those, what do they look like?"

He looked in and made a face. "Are those flower petals?"

"Yes, they are flower petals." He confirmed. "It looks like...four different types actually."

"What the fuck? Noelani, what's going on?" Steve asked, confused.

Noelani didn't say anything, staring down at her hands.

"Noelani is suffering from Hanahaki's disease, or syndrome, depending on who you consult." Danny explained. "It's a soulmate thing, you find your soulmate and flowers form inside of you and they come out...you vomit them up."

"Wait so...so...is this a bad thing?" Steve ran his hand over his face, trying to take everything in.

"Well, yeah, it's not great." Danny said honestly. "If you don't connect with your soulmate, or they don't feel the same way as you, basically you...you choke to death. It kills you."

"Holy shit!" Steve blurted out. He whirled around to face Noelani. "Who is it?"

"It doesn't matter, they'll never want me." Noelani said quietly, her voice huskier than normal.

"Bullshit." Steve said desperately. "There's gotta be...I mean...you can't just..."

"I can, and I am." Noelani shot him a look. "There's...there's a surgery you can have, but it cuts off all of your feelings for that person or persons in my case. I wouldn't...feel anything for them whatsoever. I don't want to do that."

"Noelani, look at me." Steve bent down on his knees in front of her. "I...you have to connect with these people. You have to try. Do you...do you know how special you are to me?"

Noelani scoffed. "You can find another medical examiner, Commander McGarrett."

Steve leaned back quickly, looking as if she physically struck him. "Is that all you think you are to me? I...Noelani, I thought we were..."

"Friends? You thought we were friends?" Noelani asked, shooting him a glare. "That makes it even worse, you know."

"What?" Steve frowned, clutching his hands in his lap.

"It's you!" Noelani stood and looked at him fiercely. "It's you, ok! It's...it's you and Detective Williams. Ever since I met you two I...and the doctor told me I have two months...and now I have two others that...that I don't even..."

"Oh God." Danny leaned heavily against the table behind him, not even paying attention to the fact that it had a dead body in a body bag in it. "Oh...Noelani..."

"Don't." Noelani said stubbornly. "Don't give me platitudes about...about anything. I don't want to hear it."

"Sweetheart, don't you see?" Steve reached up and took her hand in his. "Danny and I...God...we love you. We...we do. Maybe it...it isn't how you want it to be. At least right now. But..."

"He's right. I could let myself...I mean I already love that goof." Danny walked over to stand with them. "I could easily let myself love you, too."

Noelani looked between them, tears swimming in her eyes, a few falling down her face. "What good does that do me?" She asked. "I still have two other..." She couldn't even finish the sentence, a sob breaking out of her.

Steve got up quickly and pulled her into his arms, letting her hug him as tightly as she wanted. "We'll figure it out. When...when did the new ones start?"

"Around the time you investigated that bank robbery a little while back." Noelani said quietly, leaning into Steve still, taking complete advantage of it. He smelled like Nautica Voyage cologne (cliché as it is) and it smelled incredible to her. She didn't want to let go of him.

"And you came over to have that team dinner with us." Danny walked over and practically enfolded her between them. He put his hands lightly on her sides, deep in thought. "Ok let's think about who was there. It had to be someone new to you, that you hadn't been around a lot before then..."

"Adam." Steve blurted out. "Adam and Junior."

"You think that's it?" Danny asked.

"What flowers are they?" Steve asked.

"Peony and blue violet for you two." Noelani said quietly.

"Hey the New Jersey state flower!" Danny said brightly.

Noelani cleared her throat, feeling like she could breathe just a little bit better. "Yes."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Danny, focus."

"Snapdragon and valerian." Noelani continued.

"Ok valerian, meaning to be strong." Danny said. "That's a start. It..."

"How do you know all this?" Steve eyed him.

"There's a surgery you can get for the...you know." Danny waved his hand.

"Did...did you..." He stared at him.

He sighed. "Yes, ok? I did. I got it. Once upon a time a long time ago. I...my partner at the precinct back in Jersey."

"Grace?" Steve asked.

"Yes, Grace. I never revealed myself to her and once she was killed..." Danny closed his eyes. "So I had the surgery. Anyway. I know the meaning of a lot of flowers. So piss off. Valerian means strong, snapdragon means...deception and graciousness. Yep I'd say Junior and Adam."

"Ok!" Steve said. "Ok. So. So...we just inform them of things and..."

"It doesn't work like that, Steve." Danny said, quietly for once. He turned Noelani around and wrapped her up in his arms, feeling her shaking from all the nerves she had going through her. "They have to love her. In some way. Since we love her, if it was just us, things would be ok. But since it's them..."

"Fuck!" Steve exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! So..." He put his hands on his hips, taking deep gasping breaths that reminded Danny of a pissed off bull. "So...how...how long before?"

"Two months." Noelani said quietly.

"God." Steve dug his fingers into his eyes, shaking then as well. "Why...why so..."

"Because she fell in love with us first." Danny explained. "She knew us first, she's known us for a couple of years now, and it took her a little while to start feeling things, and once she did..."

"The flowers happened." Steve finished.

"The flowers happened." Danny repeated.

"So ok...all we have to do is tell them." Steve said, looking around wildly. "We tell them and hey...they can grow to love you. We did."

"I don't want someone trying to fall in love with me out of desperation, Commander McGarrett." Noelani said softly.

Steve laughed incredulously. "Here I did this thing to you and you can't even call me Steve."

"You didn't do..." Noelani stared at him.

Danny cut her off. "Don't. Don't, baby doll. It's...he's got a guilt complex a mile wide. He'll feel guilty over any fuckin' thing, it's best you don't waste your breath. Besides, in a way...he's right. You fell for us and now...it could cost you your life."

Steve let out a wounded sound at that, going back to pacing around the room.

Danny watched him, his heart aching for the both of them. He was always the one that was the more emotional between he and Steve, and he felt tears in his eyes watching the man he loved fret so much over the fact that they could lose the woman he felt deeply for as well. He rubbed Noelani's arms gently, his mind going a mile a minute, trying to come up with something that Noelani would accept.

"Ok." He said. He looked down at her. "Ok. How about this. We tell Junior and Adam about all of this. If...if they're amenable...they can date you. We'll all date."

"If they're amenable?" Steve scoffed. "They'll be amenable, I'll put a bullet..." Danny looked up at him, shooting him a look that squelched whatever else he was going to say.

"We'll all date." Danny looked at Noelani. "And that will give them time to develop feelings for you as well."

"Yeah hey, that sounds ok, right?" Steve perked up again.

Noelani chewed on her lip, ducking her head. She thought it over and shrugged. "I suppose, but forgive me if I...am not too optimistic about things."

"All we can do is do our best." Danny hugged her to him again, holding onto her. He was trying to remain positive for both her and Steve, but deep down he was devastated at the thought of losing one of the most important people to him...again. He'd weathered too many people coming in and out of his life, so had Steve, and he was going to fight as hard as he could to keep Noelani.

"Come over to my place. Tonight." Steve said. He grabbed a pad and a pen nearby and wrote down his address: 5329 Kalanianaole Hwy Aina Haina, Hawaii 96821.

"Why?" Noelani asked, taking the pad from him.

"Because how are we going to get this dating thing started if you don't?" Steve pointed out. "Come over around 7. Casual, don't get too fancy."

"Ok..." Noelani eyed him.

Danny smiled and kissed her temple, causing her stomach to flutter. "It'll be good, don't worry. Hey, are you allergic to anything food wise?"

"No." She admitted.

"Good." He nodded. "I have a few recipes in mind. You'll love them." He walked over and patted Steve's chest. "Come on, McGarrett, we have a grocery run to make."

Steve walked over and wrapped Noelani up in a tight hug, laying his head on top of hers, eyes closed. "We're going to save you." He said quietly, determinedly. "I won't settle for anything less." Before she could say anything, he and Danny left and she was left to just gape after them and wonder what she got herself into.

"So you called Adam and Junior and invited them over?" Danny asked, as he was walking down the aisle at the local Trader Joe's, putting things in the cart. Of course Steve was 'driving' it, and Danny hadn't even protested, his mind on getting everything he needed.

"Yes, they're coming." Steve promised. "They were confused; I guess I could've worded it better."

Danny snorted and eyed him. "I'm sure. I don't even know what you said, but I know you could've."

"Fuck off, Daniel." Steve muttered quietly.

Danny laughed softly, even though he knew why Steve was so on edge. His mind hadn't come off of Noelani since they figured out what was wrong with her. "Do you think she'll like my nana's panettone or should I do cassata?"

"It's too early for really good fresh fruit." Steve pointed out, which told of just how much time he'd been spending with Danny that he automatically knew what those two desserts were. "Besides, the panettone is amazing, she deserves the best."

"Panettone it is." Danny agreed. "Let's go to the baking aisle."

Steve opened the door when there was a knock, smiling when he saw Junior there. Steve had changed into a pair of black jeans, a grey t-shirt under a green button up and had told both Junior and Adam to dress casually as well. Junior was in a pair of jeans and a turquoise Henley. Steve eyed him curiously, not letting him in yet.

"What? Am I dressed ok?" Junior fidgeted.

Danny passed by then, dressed similarly in a plain white button up and black pants. "You're fine, he's just stressed. Let him in, you animal. Come on."

"I came bearing tequila." Junior held up the bottle.

"Good." Danny took the bottle from him after strong arming Steve away from the door. "I'll make us some cocktails. Hey, Adam, come on in before the Neanderthal here blocks the door again."

Adam walked in, wearing all black as he usually did. "So...not that I don't appreciate the invite, but what is all this?"

"You'll see." Steve grabbed the tequila from Danny, looking on his phone for a good drink to make with it, deciding on something called a tequila-cranberry cooler since he had everything he needed for it.

Noelani came a few minutes later, as the four guys were making stunted small talk, Danny letting her in, hugging her tightly. She was in a simple casual dress that was a flower pattern with matching red frames for her glasses.

"Noelani, hey." Adam beamed, walking over and hugging her. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"I was sort of strong armed into it." She said, hugging him back, and Danny could see the longing on her face, which made his heart hurt all over again.

Adam laughed, pulling back from her. Danny wanted to smack him for it. "Eh at least you get a good meal out of it. What'd you make, Danny?"

He snapped out of his mutinous thoughts. "Pasta al Pomodoro."

"What's that?" Junior asked curiously.

Danny waved a hand. "It's good is what it is." He said, leading them to the lanai where Steve was setting out the food. "It's pasta and tomato sauce. Very simple dish, but very damn good." He pulled out a chair and gestured for Noelani to sit down.

Steve put a glass in front of her. "It's really tasty, I tried it."

Adam followed Danny inside to grab the panettone. "So...what's wrong with Noelani, is she dying?"

Danny barely had time to put the panettone on the counter before he dropped it. He turned around and eyed Adam with a barely controlled look. "Excuse me? Dying?" He asked. "No...no, Noelani is...is not dying. Definitely not." 

Adam folded his arms over his chest, crossing his legs at the ankles, leaning against the counter. "So if she's not dying...what's with all of this? You forget, Junior may be new to all of the goings on with you and Steve, but I've been around you almost ten years now. I know how to read between the lines." 

Danny ran a hand over his face. "Ok...look...have you ever heard of Hanahaki's disease?" 

Adam looked down at the floor, a stoic look on his face. "Who?" 

Danny waved a hand. "Isn't it obvious?" He questioned. "Steve and I...we have feelings for her as well, it's not...not love, not yet. But it was enough to at least lessen her symptoms."

"How long has she got?" Adam asked quietly.

"She said two months." Danny admitted softly. 

Adam barely caught himself before he banged his hands against the counter, a frustrated look on his face. "Damn it." 

"I know." Danny promised. "So, no pressure, but you know Steve, you know how he is about things..." 

"He wants to save her." Adam said. "The only way to save her is..."

"If you and Junior return her feelings." Danny finished.

Adam nodded and grabbed a wine bottle that was sitting on the counter, taking it out to the lanai. Danny, wanting to help him maintain his cover, grabbed five wine glasses, holding them precariously, grabbing the panettone before he followed. 

They all sat down and had a nice time, laughing, eating, and generally having a good time. All of them ate way too much pasta and drank way too much wine before Danny even dished out the panettone. Once they each had a piece, and had started picking at it, Steve cleared his throat. He looked at Noelani, who stared back at him a few seconds before she shrugged. 

"So we have something to discuss." He said. He glanced at Adam who looked at Danny. Steve nodded and looked at Junior, who was the only one not in the know. "It's about Noelani. She...she's sick. Sort of." 

"Sick?" Junior frowned, looking at Noelani. "What's wrong?" 

"I have a condition called Hanahaki's disease." She said, fiddling with her cloth napkin. "It's...a soulmate thing. If my body recognizes a soulmate, I...well..." She unfolded the napkin, showing off the two types of flower petals in it. The peonies and violets had disappeared, but the snapdragons and valerians were still there. 

"Are those flowers?" Junior frowned. 

"Her body makes flower petals that are going to slowly choke her to death until her soulmate returns her feelings." Steve said quietly when Noelani didn't answer.

"I've heard of that, not that term for it, but...I thought it was a myth, just a...story that people told to romanticize..." Junior trailed off. 

"Trust me, there's nothing romantic about it." Noelani cut him off bitterly.

"Who's your...?" He looked at her curiously.

She shrugged and looked around at them all.

Junior's eyes widened. "So...oh...what do we do?" 

"We fall in love." Adam said. Noelani looked at him skeptically. He smiled softly at her. "Have I ever told you how long it took me to fall for Kono?"

"No." She said quietly. "We've never been that close." 

He laughed softly, putting his hand on top of hers. "Fair enough. It took me three weeks. Of course we spent a lot of time together in those three weeks, so it was pretty easy. But...what I'm saying is, if I can do it once, surely..." 

"I don't want you to feel burdened..." She started.

"Noelani, I don't feel burdened by this." Adam interrupted her. "I don't, not at all. If anything...if anything I feel pretty special that fate has decided I need to have you in my life. If that means letting myself fall in love with you, then...I'm happy to do it." 

"How exactly do we do that?" Junior asked. 

"There's no set way to go about it." Adam shrugged. "You...spend time with each other, talk to each other, get to know each other. It has to happen organically, I mean, fate will know if you're faking it." 

"Right...right..." Junior stared off at nothing in thought before he nodded to himself and smiled. "Alright then. If that's what I need to do, then that's what's going to happen." 

"That's my boy." Steve smiled proudly.

Danny groaned. "Please...please for the love of all things holy, do not turn this into some obnoxious SEAL thing. I beg of you." 

"Too late." Adam said, amused. "You know once a SEAL gets an objective in mind, there's no talking them out of it until they see it through." 

"Oh boy do I." Danny cracked.

Once Adam and Junior left later that night (Steve sending them off in an Uber since they all had gone through a few bottles of wine between them, not to mention a few of the tequila drinks), both of them promising they'd be in touch with Noelani. Steve shut the door behind them and looked at Noelani. "How about you stay here with me and Danno tonight?" 

"I don't know, I really should..." Noelani bit her lip. "You know what, if I'm going to die in two months, I may as well indulge myself. Why not?"

Steve frowned. "You aren't going to die." He took her hand. "Not on my watch." 

Noelani snorted, but didn't argue. "I have spare clothes in my back seat for work tomorrow, but..." 

"I'll let you borrow something to sleep in." Steve promised. 

"Speaking of, where am I sleeping? Actually the couch will be fine, I've slept in worse places." Noelani looked over at it. "Does it pull out?" 

"It does not, and it's the most uncomfortable thing to sleep on ever, trust me." Danny said. 

"Yeah, no. You can sleep in bed with me and Danny." Steve started upstairs.

Noelani eyed Danny who held his hands up. "Sleep, just sleep. We're all adults, we can manage that, right? Not to pressure you or anything, but we are soulmates, and this whole thing has Steve and I a bit frazzled. It would be nice if we could just...forget rules and barriers and just...relax." 

"That does sound nice." She said quietly. "It's been a while since I've been able to just...not think about it." 

"Well then let's see what we can do about letting you get a good night's rest." He looked up when Steve came back down, holding a shirt and a pair of shorts.

"These will be big on you, but they should be ok." He handed them over.

"Thanks." Noelani took them and went to the bathroom to change.

While she was doing that, Steve and Danny went up to the bedroom. Steve stripped down to his boxers and put his clothes in the hamper, coming back out, pulling the covers on the bed down. He looked up when he saw Danny just standing there staring at him. 

"What?" He frowned.

"Nothing." Danny shook his head, stripping down to his underwear as well. "You're taking this well." 

"Why wouldn't I be?" Steve smiled at him. "Junior and Adam know, and it's only a matter of time before things are ok again. We got our girl here with us, she's safe for the moment...things are good." 

Noelani knocked on the door, cutting off whatever Danny was going to say. He went over and opened the door, smiling at her. "Come on in." He let her in and looked her over. "Hey, you look better in Steve's clothes than he does." 

"Yeah well he looks better out of them anyway." Noelani said, before she realized what she said and blushed bright red. 

Steve grinned at her. "Yeah? You like what you see, Noelani? I definitely like what I see." 

"That's because you have some weird caveman side to you that's all pleased to see your mate in your clothes." Danny quipped. He gestured to Noelani. "Let's go to bed, we have work in the morning." 

Noelani got in in the middle, Steve on one side, Danny on the other. It was a little strange for her, but she tried not to act too uncomfortable. 

Steve eyed her. "Can I ask a personal question?" 

"I'm not a virgin." Noelani said.

"Not what I was...ok it was." Steve said. "Actually I was going to ask if this was the first time you were...sharing a bed with someone else." 

"No." Noelani said. "I had an active and healthy sex life in college actually." 

"Really?" Danny asked, amused.

"Yes, actually. I did guy's term papers and what not, and in return, they had sex with me." Noelani explained.

Steve sat up quickly, looking at her incredulously. "Dudes took advantage of you like that?" 

Noelani scoffed. "Took advantage of me, please. I spread it around that I was willing to do the work if they would accept my payment options. If anything, I was the one in control. But whatever, I got sex, they got someone to do their work for them."

"A plus work, huh?" Danny asked, laughing to himself. 

"Depends." She admitted. "If I thought the sex was A plus work..." 

Steve sputtered laughing at that. "You graded their sex and gave them what you thought they deserved?" 

"Did you grade on a curve?" Danny snickered like an eight year old. 

"I always rounded down." Noelani smirked. "I mean, I was doing the work for them, I wasn't going to let them have a better GPA than me." 

Both men broke down into hysterical laughter then, Noelani smugly between them, not feeling a bit sorry for her actions at that point.

"You sure are something, sweetheart." Steve shook his head. He leaned over and pecked her cheek, leaning over her to kiss Danny. "Let's get some sleep, g'night." 

"Night." Danny kissed Noelani's cheek as well and when she turned on her side so that Steve could hold her against his chest, he curled up against her back, his arm going around her. 

"Night." Noelani repeated before she fell asleep, the first really good night she'd had in a while. 

Over the next few weeks, in between Noelani spending time with Danny and Steve (or Danny or Steve), she went out with Adam and Junior. It was a very nice time for everyone, except when Steve would immediately call Adam or Junior after Noelani came back from one of their dates (she'd all but moved in with Steve and Danny at that point), asking them if they'd fallen in love with her yet. That part was frustrating to both of them and had even made Junior snap at Steve (in his own Junior like way, which was basically 'no disrespect sir, but you really need to back off a little bit'). 

Noelani looked up at Adam as they walked out of Volcano Shakes. "I have to admit, I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach." 

He huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah I know what you mean, I feel a little sick as well." 

"This was the first time I've ever had an ice cream sundae as big as my head for dinner." She shook her head. "I feel so...naughty." 

He laughed loudly at the way she said it, nudging her. "Hey, you're an adult, what good is being an adult if you can't break all the rules sometimes?" 

"Next rule to break, sex in public." She quipped. Then she groaned and shook her head, coughing into a napkin she had clutched in her hand. "Please ignore the fact that I actually said that." 

"Your secret's safe with me." Adam promised. He stopped her with a hand on her wrist. "You have a little chocolate sauce..." He gestured to his mouth.

Noelani frowned and wiped at her mouth. "Did I get it?" 

"No, uh, let me..." Adam cupped her face with his hands, leaning down. He captured her lips with his own, kissing her softly. Once he pulled back, he smiled down at her. 

"Was that one of your moves?" Noelani teased.

Adam looked a little sheepish. "Yeah, was it completely corny?" 

"No, actually...it was completely effective." Noelani promised.

"Good." Adam smiled. 

"I'm going to go grab us some water, I need it to wash down the sweet." Noelani walked off, coughing slightly, but not as bad as she had been earlier.

Adam watched her go, a soft look on his face. He took out his phone and brought up a text to Steve. 'I'm pretty sure it's love.'

It barely sent before Steve sent a reply back. 'OH THANK GOD!' 

Adam shook his head and ducked down a bit, a goofy smile coming to his lips. 

Junior looked at the back of Noelani's head as he spoke. "Ok so it's a tandem thing, but you want to work opposite of each other, so if I paddle on the right side, you paddle on the left and vice versa." 

"I don't think this is going to work out, Junior." Noelani huffed. "Maybe surf kayaking isn't my thing. I've already dumped us in the water three times." 

"No, it's ok. It's not your fault." He said. "This is your first lesson, you aren't going to be great at it right off the bat." 

"Are you sure anyone told the Navy SEALs that?" She scoffed.

He smiled at that, not at all offended. "That's a very different circumstance. We have to be good at everything very quickly, because sometimes it's a life or death situation and we don't have the luxury not to be." 

"And?" She looked back at him.

"And this isn't a life or death situation, so it's ok if you're not good at it right off the bat." He finished. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I couldn't perform an autopsy." 

"Yeah I guess you're right." Noelani blew out a breath, clearing her throat, coughing a little. A few petals floated in the water and Junior pretended not to see them. "Ok...let's try this again. So you paddle left..." 

"You paddle right." Junior gripped his oar. "Are you ready to try again?" 

"Yes, yes I am." Noelani smiled, gripping her own oar. 

Later on, they'd called it a day and went to Kamekona's shrimp truck for an early dinner. Junior had to get her home early because he was going to be spending the next day with his family. Junior watched her as she picked at her shrimp basket, and cocked his head to the side.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

She laughed. "Just that I had a good time today. I really enjoyed myself." 

"So did I. I'm beginning to see Commander McGarrett's side of things." He admitted. "I'm glad I'm getting the chance to get to know you." 

"Me, too." She said quietly. 

"That's not all, is it?" He asked. 

"I have three weeks..." She trailed off. 

"I'm sorry." He said. "I...I really am trying."

"It's not your fault." Noelani put her hand on his arm. "I don't blame you in any way, you can't force yourself to feel a way you don't." 

"Yeah but I still feel bad." Junior sighed. 

Noelani leaned over the table as best as she could, pulling Junior the rest of the way so she could place a peck to his lips. "If it makes you feel better, I've...had a really great time this last month and a half. I couldn't imagine my life turning out how it has. If...if you never...then that's ok. I can say I don't have any regrets." 

"Yeah well you might not, but I sure will." Junior mumbled, folding his arms over his chest. 

Noelani stared at him a few seconds before nudging him with her foot. "Come on, you promised me a ocean side drive on the way home." 

"Yeah, alright." Junior smiled as he got up and threw their containers away, heading back with her to his car. 

When they got back to Steve's house, Adam was waiting on them, leaning against his car. "Hey." He smiled when they got out. "I was hoping I could take you for the rest of the night. Steve and Danny have this conference tomorrow and they're staying in a hotel." 

"Oh yeah well...yeah I'd like that." Noelani smiled. She reached up and kissed Junior, stunning him. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah...see you." He said, pressing his fingers to his lips as Noelani got in Adam's car and they drove away. 

Noelani rolled over in the bed, laying herself across Adam's bare chest. "You know, I'd feel sort of like a whore, sleeping with three guys at a time..."

"It's not..." Adam shook his head, wrapping his arm around her. "We're your boyfriends, it doesn't count." 

"I guess not. But what I was going to say is, I'd feel like a whore, but quite frankly it's my prerogative who I sleep with." 

Adam smiled. "That's very progressive of you." 

"I'd like to think I'm very progressive." She joked.

He shook his head, kissing her forehead. "How would you like to spend the day together tomorrow? We can do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want, huh?" She asked.

"Yes." He confirmed.

"Have you ever wanted to learn how to embalm a body?" Noelani asked innocently.

Adam groaned and grimaced, but shrugged. "I have a feeling I'm going to learn." 

"You'll love it." Noelani squeezed him. 

"I love you, Noelani." Adam murmured, closing his eyes.

"I love you, too, Adam." Noelani grabbed her phone, sending her I love you's to Steve and Danny. When they both replied in kind, she put it back and closed her eyes, falling asleep. 

Eddie met Steve and Danny at the door. They'd just gotten off a really tough case and both were exhausted. "Hey, Eddie. Ok, buddy I know, give me a minute and I'll take you ou..." Steve trailed off when Eddie dashed off to his laundry room. The large golden retriever came back, barked at them both, and then ran back again. Danny and Steve shared a look before they raced after him. When they got to the laundry room, they saw Noelani laying on the floor unconscious. She was surrounded by flower petals, and the laundry basket was upturned next to her. Steve looked at Danny, panic in his eyes. "Call an ambulance." 

Junior ran his hands over his face as he paced the hospital room. Noelani was in the bed, still unconscious, and the beeping of her vitals was driving him crazy. "This is all my fault. I haven't...I don't even know why I couldn't..." 

"Don't. Don't do that to yourself." Steve murmured. "You can't force emotions. Sometimes emotions are hard to understand." 

Junior walked over to Noelani's bed, staring down at her. "Noelani...I'm so sorry...I never meant for any of this to happen. I'm sorry..." He bent over her, taking her hands in his, tears leaking from his eyes. The other three watched, hearts breaking, as Junior wept over Noelani. Junior leaned in and kissed her gently, feeling despair shoot through him at the thought that he was about to lose someone who'd become an important part of his life. 

Suddenly the heart monitor sped up more, and Steve looked over at them in shock. He noticed the vitals were going crazy, and that they were stabilizing. His own heart hammered in his chest as he saw Noelani open her eyes. She looked around confused, before she looked at Junior. 

"What happened?" She asked, her voice raspy and quiet.

He choked on a laugh, still crying openly. "I don't know." 

She looked at the others, before something occurred to her. "Hey, I can breathe..."

"Oh God...thank you..." Danny closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up. "It's a miracle." 

Junior leaned in and kissed Noelani. "I love you...so much. I finally realized it." 

"I love you, too." She said quietly. "All of you."


End file.
